The mystical magical power of the infomercial

That's right, the infomercial. Have you ever been lazing about early on a Saturday morning and find yourself teetering longer than expected on channel 72? You know the one... the one talking about the Jack LaLance Power Juicer. Or, maybe you've been stupified over the amazing cutting power of the ChopChop? Better yet, how about the miracle of the One Sweep super sweeper, or the incredible age-old Thigh Master? Sometimes you just can't help but think to yourself, "YES! My life will be better and more enhanced if I had this amazing product!"

As I wandered in and out of the living room this past Saturday making my way through my usual cleaning routine, I found myself pausing more than just once on the Infomercial for the Kathy Smith exercise system. "Do you want to lose 11 pounds in two weeks?!" Yes. "Do you want to lose inches in your thighs?" Yes. "Do you want to boost your self-confidence and feel better overall?" Yes!!!! The three DVD workout video set complete with "helpful" menu planning tips will be mine in just 2 to 3 weeks for just one easy payment of $19.95. Of course, I had to call within 23 minutes of the advertisement to get that fabulous offer. What a sucker. It was sort of fun calling and ordering something from TV, though. The poor fella who took my call was probably really disappointed when all I ordered is what I saw, rather than the exercise ball, the 30-day liquid dietary supplement, or the additional videos "where all the individuals on the television program saw their best results..." I'll be sure to write more in the future about 1) the likelihood of my continuation in the Kathy Smith workout plan, and 2) whether or not I'll need to take advantage of my money-back guarantee.

Friday evening, I found myself lured to the holiday party for work. I didn't really want to go, but thought it might be something to do. I went with a coworker, who came and picked me up. She's fun. The party, however, was not. Cold, overcooked, bad food and a DJ who was just a little bit too into the Beach Boys and Bad Mamma Jamma made for a gut-churning music mix. I was hoping to at least win the 50/50 raffle, but no such luck. It was held at a place called The Verde Club, so I pictured this swanky restaurant with fancy tablesettings and froofroo mixed drinks. Alas, the Verde Club was nothing more than your typical VFW or Lions Club hall with a fancy name. Oh well, at least it was free and I got a good story out of it!

Still no word on the potential position transfer for me. I've talked with our director about it, who said she thought it might be a good fit, but beyond that she hasn't invited me in to talk about it more seriously. I've also asked for the job description a couple times and have not yet received it. She's been out of the office quite a bit this last week, so it's possible she just hadn't had a chance to get to it yet. I don't know, I'm feeling a little ambivalent about it, I think.
I really need something more challenging, but on the otherhand... it's nice to be relatively stress-free.

Today I was incredibly bored. I did a good 2 hours of work and got everything done, followed by approximately 6 hours of doing practically nothing. Yesterday I spent a lot of time with a couple trying to figure out what sort of help they needed, only to discover their major concern was paying off a particular bill for medicines which they will continue to have monthly without our help... so of course they didn't qualify. And, on Monday I had a client get mad at me after I told her that her situation really didn't constitute a crisis after she had been living (somewhat illegally) with a friend in public housing for two years rent free, and then hadn't been able to save any money of her own towards an apartment despite the fact she had employment. I just don't get it sometimes. What's relatively amusing, though, are the folks who try to provide you with detailed stories as to why they need help, and as their story unfolds they begin to dig themselves in a very deep hole of inaccurate or disqualifying information. In a way, there's really a lot of detective work to be done.

On yet another note, winter is really, really here. Really! As I drove to work this morning, the guy on the radio said it was 20 below with the windchill. That's nuts! What is this, Antarctica?? I truly had forgotten what winter was like after being away from it for over six years. Getting the dogs out for their morning and before-bed pees has been a major chore - they hate going outside when the sun is nowhere in sight! They love eating the snow, though. Today I caught Mona pawing under the patio table and dislodging snow chunks, chowing them down like it was the best treat ever. Dogs apparently don't have much in the way of reasoning skills.